
My brown cup
thirty-five years my vessel
still Secret Santa remains
unrevealed.

Bicycle in
ha’penny waters
him his sign
evening sun
either of us
might slip
but not tonight
I gift him ten
we do not drown.

I need no gift
he says
while peeling carrots.
It is true
for what gift is needed at all?
Still,
tonight he reads
Pirsig’s Zen
again.
Pencil on paper. Images arise. Message received.